WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA — CWB announced on Sept. 18 that the pouring of the concrete slip for its state-of-the-art grain elevator located west of Portage La Prairie in Bloom, Manitoba, Canada, is now under way.

The elevator pour began last Sept. 15, and the 65-member crew is expected to finish on Sept. 20, with a continuous pour of one foot of concrete per hour. The 130-foot (40-meter)-tall finished structure will contain more than 2,100 cubic meters of concrete and 250,000 kilograms of reinforcing steel.

"There is a flurry of 24-7 activity with trucks arriving every 40 minutes carrying the concrete required to complete the pour," said Gord Flaten, vice-president, grain procurement. "Once the slip pour is complete, the interior work will get underway throughout the fall and winter with the installation of equipment and control systems. Next summer the storage bins will be filled with grain to settle the foundation."

Construction of CWB's Bloom elevator was announced last March and is on track to begin receiving grain for the 2015 harvest. The elevator will feature 33,900 tonnes of storage, cleaning facilities and a 134-car loop track that will facilitate fast and efficient car loading at over 1,600 tonnes per hour.

The hiring process for Bloom's general manager as well as those for CWB's other elevator construction projects located in Colonsay and Pasqua, Saskatchewan, is underway. The recruitment drive also includes customer service representatives, operations managers, quality assurance managers, cleaner operators, and various other operational and administrative positions.